1. Field
The present invention is an interactive bingo gaming system and method. More particularly, the invention provides a skill based interactive bingo gaming system and method.
2. Background
Traditional Bingo is played in person in a large hall. Players meet at the hall, pay a fee to get in, then the games begin. A night of Bingo consists of many Bingo games played continuously, one after another.
To play Bingo, each player purchases one or more cards divided into numbered and blank squares. Traditionally, there are 75 possible Bingo numbers: B1, B2, B3, . . . B15, I16, I17, I18, . . . I30, N31, N32, . . . O74, O75. A numbered ball that resides in a large rotating bin represents each of the Bingo numbers. An announcer spins the bin, reaches in and selects a ball, and announces it to the room. The players check all of their cards to see if that number appears on their card. If there is a match with the announced numbers, then the player's mark the card accordingly. When a player has a Bingo (5 in a row, column, or diagonal), he or she calls out Bingo.
The game is paused while the card is verified. If the player's card is a winner, the game stops and a new game begins. If the player's card is not a winner, the game proceeds where it left off. Each Bingo game proceeds until someone wins the game.
In traditional Bingo, a player's chances of winning depend on the number of cards in the game and how many cards are being played. For example, if a player has 10 cards in a game with 1000 cards, the chances of winning for that player is 1 in 100.
There are many variations or combinations of Bingo. In one popular variation, the central square of the card is empty; the first player that has a row of five numbers that are either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally is the winner. In another variation, the player is awarded a prize if the “Four Corners” of the Bingo card are filled. In yet another variation, the player is awarded a prize if all the numbers on the Bingo card are selected; this variation is called “Blackout” Bingo.
Bingo is played as a game of chance. The selection of a Bingo card is a relatively random event. Additionally, the drawing of each bingo ball is also a random event. The most obvious skill each player must have is to scan the Bingo card quickly and identify any Bingo numbers that have been called by the announcer. This can be especially difficult if the player has more than one Bingo card and the announcer is calling numbers quickly. However, in a computing environment, software identifies the Bingo numbers on a Bingo card and little or no skill is required to play Bingo.
Bingo can also be played on an electronic device. Generally, the electronic device provides the player with an opportunity to select a Bingo card and draws Bingo numbers. The Bingo numbers are identified on the player Bingo card if there is a match between the number listed on the player card and the drawn Bingo number. As such this process require little or no skill.
To enhance the gaming experience, a Bingo game that provides a player with an opportunity to use player skill has been conceived. For purposes of this patent, “player skill” includes three components: minimal skill, dexterity skill, and knowledge skill. Generally, all games include these components, however, the degree of skill varies for each game. Minimal skill requires a minimal understanding of the rules of the game and minimal dexterity needed to apply the rules of the game. To play a game according to the game rules, the player must possess minimal skill.
A lottery game is a game that in principle only requires minimal skill. The minimal skill required is the selection of numbers from a card having a plurality of numbers within. The correct amount of numbers must be identified before the lottery drawing. The game outcome is theoretically random so little or no dexterity skill or knowledge skill is used. Other games that theoretically rely on random events include traditional keno and stand-alone slot machines.
Dexterity skill is based on the player's reflexes or coordination. Most games require a degree of dexterity to establish game play. Certain games such as arcade video games or pinball machines are primarily dexterity based skill games. For example, in the well-known “Pong” video game, the player removes bricks from a wall by causing a ball to “hit” the brick with a player controlled paddle. Dexterity skill is needed to ensure that the ball strikes the paddle so that the player may continue playing the game. The objective during game play is to generate as many points as possible, and this objective is generally achieved by playing the game as long as possible.
Knowledge skill is based on the player's experience and analytical abilities. Most games require a degree of knowledge skill during game play. For example, the Pong game described above requires a certain amount of knowledge skill in anticipating how the ball will bounce off the brick wall. However, this level of knowledge is minimal when compared to the level of dexterity skill applied in Pong.
An illustrative example of a game that uses knowledge skill is a standard video poker game of Jack or Better. In this video poker game a player is provided with a choice of which cards to hold and which cards to discard in exchange for newer cards. The optimum choice made by the player is dependent on the paytable for the video poker game. For illustrative purposes, with a paytable that pays a Royal Flush 800, a Straight Flush 50, Four of a Kind 25, a Full House 9, a Flush 6, a Straight 4, Three of a Kind 3, Two Pair 2 and a Pair of Jacks or Better 1, the player has a theoretical optimum return of 99.5%. Thus, if a player starts with a $20 bill, and wagers $1 at a rate of six games per minute, this loss rate is $1.80 per hour and on average the player could play for 11 hours before consuming all the playing funds. In the illustrative example of the standard video poker machine, the knowledge skill used by the player is dependent on the amount wagered, the cards initially dealt to the player, the cards discarded by the player, the new cards provided to the player and the paytable for compensating the player. During the game session, the player attempts to optimize his/her award according to the paytable. Since the optimal player outcome is dependent on the paytable, a “knowledgeable” player's decision will be highly dependent on the paytable. The paytable provided in the illustrative standard video poker machine is a static paytable. A static paytable does not change during game play and provides a fixed award for each award event.
A traditional Bingo game is a game that in principle only requires minimal skill. The minimal skill required includes the selection of a Bingo card and the identification of drawn numbers on to the Bingo card. The game outcome is theoretically random so little or no dexterity skill or knowledge skill is used. For example, if the Bingo game is enabled in an electronic device that identifies the winning numbers on the Bingo card, then little or no dexterity skill is required. Additionally, since each drawing of a Bingo number is theoretically random, little or no knowledge based skill is used by the player.